Obor and Bryophyta give free-to-play accounts two approachable boss goals, but their keys no longer work like the oldest guides describe. Use a giant key or mossy key to unlock the relevant gate, then spend keys on the reward chest after kills. This guide explains both fights and keeps F2P equipment separate from members-only assumptions.
Understand the current key and chest system
Your first entry requires the relevant key to permanently unlock that boss’s gate: a giant key for Obor or a mossy key for Bryophyta. Unlocking the gate does not consume the key. Once unlocked, you can fight the boss again without carrying a key for each entry.
The valuable reward table is now in the post-kill chest. Opening that chest consumes one relevant key. Killing the boss without a key still provides the ordinary corpse loot, but does not give a free roll on the chest’s valuable rewards. Kill-count progression is tied to opening the reward chest, so a keyless combat kill should not be confused with a recorded chest completion.
Trying to open the chest also restarts the encounter, including when you have no key. Be ready for another fight instead of clicking it absent-mindedly at low health. Both bosses can drop keys themselves, but that is a chance, not a guaranteed self-sustaining loop.
This system was changed in 2025. Advice that says every failed attempt consumes a key on entry, or that you must spend a key just to enter after unlocking the gate, describes the previous system.
Boss | Access and key | Practical F2P starting plan |
|---|---|---|
Obor | Hill giants supply giant keys; the arena is in Edgeville Dungeon. | Snare and a damage spell with Protect from Missiles, or a suitably prepared melee setup. |
Bryophyta | Moss giants supply mossy keys; the arena is in Varrock Sewers. | Ranged or suitable fire Magic with Protect from Magic and a valid woodcutting axe for growthlings. |
Both | First unlock the gate; spend keys on the reward chest after a kill. | Bring food, prayer points, a working escape and enough supplies for the entire attempt. |
Farm keys without adding Wilderness risk
For a first boss goal, use ordinary non-Wilderness hill giants or moss giants. Wilderness alternatives introduce player-killing risk and need a separate risk plan; they are not necessary for learning either fight. Keep the key when it drops and finish preparing before visiting the boss.
The brass key used for the locked hut entrance to Edgeville Dungeon is different from Obor’s giant key. Having one does not replace the other. For the Varrock Sewers route, bring a knife or suitable slash weapon to cut the web.
Bank with the boss route in mind. Spell runes, the correct axe, prayer points and a teleport are easier to fix before travelling than at the arena entrance. Ordinary Home Teleport cannot be relied on as an emergency escape during combat. A usable combat teleport needs its actual level and runes or another suitable item.
Use F2P food you can afford, such as lobsters or swordfish, and avoid loading the inventory with members-only potions or equipment copied from a members guide. Recommended combat levels are comfort targets, not additional gate requirements.
Obor: control distance and expect ranged damage
Obor uses Melee and Ranged. The ledge before climbing down gives you time to prepare: activate protection, organise your spell selection and check health before entering combat. Protect from Missiles is useful, but reduces the ranged damage by half rather than blocking it completely. His unprotected ranged hit can reach 26, so distance alone is not full protection.
A practical Magic approach uses 50 Magic for Snare and 40 Prayer for Protect from Missiles. Bring the correct runes for both Snare and your chosen damage spell. Obor has an earth weakness, so an appropriate earth spell is a sensible damage option; the Snare level does not automatically grant every stronger damage spell.
Snare the boss, create distance and cast damage while watching for movement to resume. Do not let the spellbook routine distract you from health or prayer. A snared Obor can still attack at range. Reposition and renew control as needed instead of assuming one successful bind makes the remainder safe.
A melee route can work with suitable equipment and around 50 or better melee combat skills as a starting recommendation. Rune armour and a rune scimitar are practical F2P examples when you meet their requirements. You will take more close-range pressure, so bring enough food and be ready to leave.
Keeping your back near a wall can reduce knockback displacement, but does not remove the damage or make the encounter safe automatically. If consecutive hits leave you unable to recover, escape and improve supplies or combat levels before returning.
Bryophyta: protect before entering
Bryophyta attacks immediately after entry, so activate Protect from Magic before crossing into the fight. The boss is stationary and uses Magic at distance, with Melee available when you stand close. Staying back with the correct protection keeps the main boss’s attacks easier to manage.
A F2P Ranged setup can use a maple shortbow, adamant arrows and green dragonhide when your levels allow them. Around 60 Ranged, 40 Defence and 37 Prayer is a comfortable starting target, not a mandatory boss unlock. Use enough food to cover mistakes and growthling damage.
Fire Magic is also viable because Bryophyta has a fire weakness. Fire Blast requires 59 Magic and its actual rune costs. Choose a setup you can sustain through the fight, rather than bringing a spell you cannot cast or using a non-fire spell while expecting the fire bonus.
Protect from Magic blocks the boss’s normal Magic attacks, but it does not protect you from every nearby melee threat. Keep distance from Bryophyta where possible and watch the growthlings. Poison is a members-world concern here; do not add an impossible F2P antipoison requirement to a free-world inventory.
Situation | Correct response | Avoid this old or misleading advice |
|---|---|---|
Obor is Snared | Keep Protect from Missiles active and monitor health. | A bind stops every incoming attack. |
Bryophyta summons three growthlings | Kill all three with a valid woodcutting axe or secateurs, then resume boss damage. | Always weaken each one to 1 HP before using the tool. |
Choosing an axe | Bring a real woodcutting axe; equipping it allows a direct attack. | Any weapon with “axe” in its name works, including a battleaxe or zombie axe. |
No chest key after unlocking | Expect ordinary kill loot; obtain a key for the chest reward. | Every keyless kill grants a free valuable chest roll. |
Clicking the post-kill chest | Be ready for the boss to respawn. | The room will remain safe while you repeatedly click the chest. |
Growthlings: use the correct tool
When Bryophyta summons growthlings, the boss becomes immune to your ordinary damage. Stop attacking it and deal with all three growthlings. Current mechanics allow a valid equipped woodcutting axe or magic secateurs to kill a growthling in one hit; the old routine of first weakening it with another weapon is unnecessary.
A regular woodcutting axe is the straightforward F2P choice. Equip it, attack each growthling and switch back to your main weapon afterwards. If the tool stays in your inventory, use the appropriate tool interaction rather than expecting an ordinary bow shot to finish the job.
A battleaxe or zombie axe is not a woodcutting tool. The blessed axe is also not a valid solution here. If you forgot your tool, a bronze axe is available from the log pile inside the lair, but packing the correct axe at the bank is much smoother.
After the third growthling dies, verify that your protection is active and resume the boss. If damage is still blocked, look for the remaining growthling rather than continuing to spend arrows or runes on Bryophyta.
Collect rewards and choose what to practise next
After a successful kill, decide whether you have a key to open the reward chest and enough supplies for the room to become dangerous again. Obor’s hill giant club and Bryophyta’s essence belong to their valuable chest reward goals; they are not guaranteed rewards for finishing your first combat kill.
Keep normal loot, chest rewards and recorded completions distinct when tracking progress. This avoids thinking the counter is broken after a keyless kill or assuming a missing unique means the wrong boss was defeated.
For Obor, improve your binding, spacing and health checks before increasing damage. For Bryophyta, improve pre-entry prayer and the axe-switch routine. Once both fights feel controlled, compare the time spent farming keys with the value of other account upgrades rather than assuming either boss must be your main money-making method.
Choose the next account upgrade
Use the OSRS PvM progression guide to connect this encounter to your next unlock. Improve the repeated mechanical error first, then choose equipment that solves a specific damage, range or sustain problem.
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